


Sweet Revenge

by Lady_Darkness



Series: Flight [4]
Category: Hannibal (TV)
Genre: Angst, Canon-Typical Violence, Explicit Sexual Content, Fluff, M/M, Murder Husbands, On the Run, Vague mentions of (child) abuse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-23
Updated: 2018-05-30
Packaged: 2019-04-06 21:43:35
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 13,647
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14066202
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lady_Darkness/pseuds/Lady_Darkness
Summary: After being found in Brussels, our murder family flees to Florence, but the bounty placed on Hannibal's head makes it all the more difficult for them to stay on the move and out of the hands of the FBI and others. This starts immediately after the end of A Sense Of Safety.This is not abandoned, just on hiatus.





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> This is the fourth and final story of this series.

Abigail lay awake for the best part of the night, thinking what she could have done differently this time. Perhaps she should just stay inside, not go out anymore, or maybe she should just slink off and find her own way. She liked Hannibal and Will just fine, but after the last year, she knew she was in dire need of stability and peace and quiet. She’d liked the life they had started to build in Brussels. Taking up her education again, meeting some other students her age, it had done her well, and to be ripped away from that again gnawed at her insides. She didn’t actually blame her surrogate dads for it, but a large part of her did wonder what life would have been like if Hannibal hadn’t been a killer and Will hadn’t wanted to catch him. As had happened many times since their flight from Baltimore, she was getting lost in her own fantasies. Will and Hannibal were her saviors, but she had wanted the story to be true. She’d wanted to stay with Hannibal in his house on that cliff, welcoming Will back when he figured out he really was attracted to the psychiatrist and wanted to start a family with him or something, but none of this pesky murder and running away business, no.  
Her mind kept coming up with different scenarios that would have allowed her to stay in the cliffside house, and when she finally relaxed enough to allow herself to fall asleep, the darkness was already beginning to give way to the sunlight. 

Hannibal hadn’t moved in his sleep, except to inch closer to Will’s warmth when he came to bed. He woke up next to the sleeping ex-profiler, feeling his hot breath on his ear. Moving slowly, he left the bed and grabbed his tablet. When he noticed the article Will had left open, he grinned, showing his fangs to the world. Now it was going to get interesting, the hunt was on. He took his phone from his pocket and checked his messages. The night had passed without any news from his contact, so he returned to bed. He contemplated calling the number advertised on the website, just to see what was going on, but looking at Will, he decided against it. There was no need to jeopardise whatever future they might have even further. Out of the three of them, Hannibal was the one most experienced in running from the law and living under the radar. He’d survived the manhunt for Il Mostro in Florence by pointing the finger at someone else, and he would have fooled Jack for much longer if not for Will looking right through him. He knew they couldn’t stay very long. There were still people around who might recognize him, like Inspector Pazzi and some of the people he had worked with before disappearing again. Deep inside he realized they wouldn’t get to live in the place he had prepared for them. A deep feeling of regret passed through him at the thought, but he quickly pushed it down. There would be a time to mourn that which couldn't happen, but that time was not now. There was so much in Florence he would like to show Will, and Abigail too, but he would get to there, in time. 

Will woke up when he felt Hannibal coming back to bed, but he closed his eyes again as he rested his head on Hannibal’s chest. Tracing his fingers through the thick chest hair in a soothing motion, he felt the other man’s heartbeat quicken under his touch. He lifted his head and gave Hannibal a soft smile.

“I can hear you thinking, you know. It’s what woke me up.” he said, nuzzling Hannibal’s jawline and pulling him closer into his embrace. “What’s wrong? So we’re being hunted, I gather…” He sat up straight and turned to look Hannibal in the eyes, a twinkle of pleasure visible in his own. “What would you think of doing some hunting of our own? We can’t let Mason have all the fun. Let’s go find his people here in Florence and show him what we can do.”

Hannibal swallowed audibly. While he would immensely enjoy such an experience with Will, this time he had more to think of than his own safety. 

“Will,” he started, squirming a bit at the hand that was slowly finding a way down his body “You know we can’t, not yet. When Abigail’s safe, we will find the one you want to have. We will go back to Baltimore, or we lure her somewhere.” He arched into Will’s touch, rubbing himself against the hand that was caressing him in all the right places. Tilting his head to allow better access, he let out a small moan as Will started kissing and biting his neck. “Don’t start something we can’t finish,” he whispered “My contact will be downstairs in half an hour.” 

Will immediately ceased all movement when he felt Hannibal tense as he mentioned his contact. For the second time in as many days, he’d been so distracted by Hannibal’s presence he threatened to forget why they were here instead of their cozy place in Brussels. He slunk back to his side of the bed, feeling rejected, but Hannibal didn’t give him time to start fretting because he was on him in a second.

“No one said we couldn’t finish after.” he breathed in Will’s ear, licking a trail along his jaw and ending with a passionate kiss. In a swift move he was out of the bed and on his way to the shower.

Will moved quick, still turned on by Hannibal’s touch. He knew he didn’t have much time, as his lover usually didn’t take longer than ten minutes in the shower. Rolling over to Hannibal’s side of the bed, he pulled down his pants. When he found the lube in the nightstand he positioned himself on his side and pulled up his legs, exposing his opening. He coated his fingers in lube and slowly started working himself open. It was a funny sensation at first, but soon he found he could fit his middle finger easily. He took a deep breath and added his index finger as well, trying to stretch the tight muscle as well as possible. The intrusion felt strange but quite nice. He couldn’t reach his prostate from this position, but he focused on loosening himself well enough so he could try and convince Hannibal to just take him. Imagining the snarl on his face as he would enter him was enough to make Will’s cock twitch against his stomach. He pushed his head in the pillow and bit back the moan that would surely give him away. Feeling the muscle give way, he lubed up a third finger and added that one as well. The sensation changed from being vaguely pleasurable to seriously stimulating. He retreated back into his mind, pretending the fingers stretching him were Hannibal’s. Having gotten lost in the sensation of being fucked open by his own fingers he didn’t hear it when Hannibal opened the bathroom door and walked in leisurely.

Hannibal hadn’t taken long to shower and get dressed. He checked his watch and saw he still had at least ten minutes before he had to meet his contact. Taking a last look in the mirror to check if his suit looked right on him, he shut off the light and opened the door. The sight that greeted him was enough to make him stop in his tracks. Will lay on his side of the bed, his legs spread and pulled up to his stomach. He was sinking down on his fingers, almost furiously fucking himself into oblivion. A layer of sweat covered his arms and back and the sounds he made went straight to Hannibal’s cock. For a moment he contemplated just watching Will work himself to completion, but his body decided otherwise. He neared the bed without making a sound, he grabbed Will’s hair and kissed his neck passionately. Inhaling his lover’s scent, Hannibal kept kissing and licking the length of his throat as he opened his pants to free his erection. Will made a mewling sound when Hannibal started to caress his back, gradually moving down to his buttocks and his opening. He gently took Will’s hand and removed it from his body. That earned him an unhappy and desperate noise from the sweaty man on the bed. He turned Will over to his stomach and pulled him to the edge of the bed so he sat on all fours. Will moaned at the empty feeling and moved his hips backwards, trying to sink back on to something. Hannibal held him firmly in place with his hand on Will’s back. 

“Oh, I will give you what you so desperately need.” he whispered dangerously as he slicked up his cock. 

Will felt Hannibal’s fingers probe him gently, checking if he had stretched himself enough, before he entered him in a swift move. His breath hitched as he was taken. He felt Hannibal still when he sat fully inside of him. Clenching his ass around the intruding cock, he let out a breath. 

“Move now,” he told Hannibal, pushing back desperately against the man “if you don’t I’ll kill you.”

Hannibal now started to move in earnest, watching his cock disappear into Will. He looked from his naked back down to his strong thighs, now straining to keep upright. Will had thrown back his head in invitation for Hannibal to grab hold of his hair, which he did. Burying his face in Will’s neck as he pulled his body straighter, Hannibal fucked him hard and fast, pounding his prostate. When he felt his release getting closer, he snuck his hand around Will’s hip to get him off as well. Before he got the chance to wrap his hand around Will’s cock, Will came with an alarmingly loud cry. His cock still pulsing and with no strength left in his body he fell forward. He was only held up by Hannibal’s strong arms as he thrusted another two, three times before coming undone inside of Will. 

For the next two minutes not a sound was heard except for their heavy breathing. Hannibal was draped over Will’s back, his shirt and waistcoat now wrinkled and his trousers undone and hanging on his knees. The look on his face spoke of nothing but a deep love for the man lying naked under him. He gingerly stood up and pulled out of his lover, straightening his clothes as he stepped back.

Will turned around slowly, showing his naked body off to Hannibal. He spread his legs just a little further so his lover could see his ravaged opening. There was no chance either of them could get it up again so soon, but Hannibal’s look told him he desperately wished it. 

“Beautiful, cunning man… You will be my undoing.” Hannibal said, looking at Will, whose eyelids started to droop again. He pulled up his pants as he finished cleaning himself up and walked towards the door, his appointment not forgotten. He turned around with a grave look on his face and sought Will’s eyes.

“Do not open the door for anyone, Will. No one is to be trusted for now. We’ll need to change our appearance drastically before we can go out again.”

Will sighed inaudibly. He’d known it would come to this when he had chosen this path, but the reality of it stung. Watching Hannibal leave the room, he pulled the discarded sheet over his head and stayed there for about five minutes, until someone knocked on the door. Sighing deeply, he got up with the sheet wrapped around his body like some Roman emperor. When he looked through the peephole he saw Abigail in the corridor. He shrugged as he let her in, not ashamed at his disheveled condition.

Abigail started laughing as she saw Will’s face and mussy hair. She had heard him cry out only a bit earlier and now he opened the door wearing nothing but a sheet, it caused her to laugh out loud. 

“I knew those googly eyes were leading up to something, but I thought you’d have a bit of decency left.” she said with a hint of a smile in her voice. In reality, she was glad to have found him relaxed and seemingly not too worried about what was going to happen now. She’d needed the reassurance more than anything.

“Good morning, Abigail.” he said, taking her teasing remark on his appearance in stride. He stepped back to let her further into the room. “Excuse me, I’ll be right back”

He winked at her and went in the bathroom, leaving her alone to stop giggling. 

She looked around the room, noticing the unmade bed and the empty bags in the corner and felt sadness creep over her again. So they were going to stay here for a while, cooped up in a small room. Even when she’d stayed with Hannibal after her supposed murder she’d always had free run of the house they were staying in. Her thoughts were taking her on a dark path now, her imagination always outdid whatever happened to her in real life. She could see Will and Hannibal getting arrested and herself dragged back to the US for tests and probably brought in for helping her father kill those girls. She was still pacing when Will returned from his shower, dressed in a black shirt and black dress pants. Abigail tried to whistle, but she broke out in a grin before she could make a sound. 

“Wow, Will… I didn’t think I’d ever see you in anything but those plaid shirts. Has Hannibal rubbed off on you?” She tried to keep a straight face, but failed and started laughing at her own joke again. Her laughter soon turned into something else. She started shaking and her face became deathly pale. Big tears gathered in her eyes, but they were not falling yet. She moved closer to Will and reached out for him.

“I’m scared.” she admitted in a small voice “I’m scared the police is going to find us and send us all to jail.”

Will pulled her close and slung his arm around her shoulder. Stroking her arm he made a reassuring noise, but he knew her fear was valid and the risk of getting caught was getting higher.

“I can’t promise you everything will be okay, I don’t know that. What I can promise is that we’re doing the best we can. The FBI don’t have a trace that could lead to us getting arrested, and for Mason Verger… he will be taken care of when we can. But right now we need to lay low.”, he told her. 

Knowing she probably wasn’t aware of the bounty, he didn’t mention it. It would only serve to aggravate her fear and that wasn’t what he was after now. He cared for her, he had done so from the moment she had come into his life. He had wanted to make things right for her, but he felt he had failed her. When she started crying again, drew her into an embrace and kissed the top of her head. He desperately wanted to say something to make her feel better but he knew there was nothing to say, so he just held her until he heard the door open, revealing Hannibal with a worried look on his usually impassive face.


	2. Chapter Two

The meeting hadn’t gone well. Hannibal’s contact had made it clear that he wasn’t going to be of any further assistance now it seemed like their lives were in danger from more than just the police. The man could deal with cops, but not with trigger-happy, money-grubbing criminals who would kill him for the three million dollars some wealthy freak had promised anyone who’d deliver the doctor and his whatever he was alive. He had thought about calling the hotline himself, but he was more scared of what Lecter could do than of the unknown man. So he had delivered their final set of fake papers and hightailed it out of the hotel, leaving Lecter to fend for himself. 

For the first time since his early youth, Hannibal felt defeated. The loss of this connection meant that he would have to seek out Chiyoh, but as far as he knew, she was still at the Lecter estate, looking after her prisoner. He couldn’t imagine she had found it in her to kill him yet, so he would have to find a way to force her hand if necessary. Knowing he could do that easily, he took out his phone and composed a text to send her. Now there was nothing to do but wait until Chiyoh made it to Italy to take them away. Head down and shoulders slumped, he made his way back to their room to tell Will the bad news. 

Abigail still held on to Will, even though she had stopped crying when the door opened. Will held her close, making calming noises and stroking her back, as if she truly was his daughter. 

Will only needed one look at Hannibal to know things hadn’t gone exactly to plan. He gently loosened his embrace and patted Abigail on the back. Letting her go, he went to the closet where he’d kept their papers and cash. The expression on his face stayed neutral, solemn even, but the nervous twitch in his cheek betrayed his inner feelings. 

“What happens now? Where do we go from here?” he asked with trepidation in his voice. 

Hannibal shook his head, letting his hair fall in his face. They weren’t going anywhere, at least not for the time being, but he didn’t look forward to telling Abigail as much. He’d seen the girl retreat inside of herself during the trip and he had noticed her unhappiness at losing the life she’d found in Brussels, but she couldn’t stay there, not on her own. If Mason was aware of her existence, and he probably was by this time, he wouldn’t hesitate to hurt her to flush him and Will out. His face was ashen and his mouth was set in a stern line as he tried to figure out how to tell Abigail exactly what was going on without aggravating the fear she already had.

“For now, we stay here. My contact has delivered our new papers, cash and credit cards this morning, so we should be set. We will have to leave Italy soon, much to my regret. I would have loved to show the two of you where I spent an important part of my life.” His voice took on a note of sadness which was mirrored in his eyes. “Mason has people everywhere and the existence of this bounty will be to our disadvantage in case someone recognizes us.”

Abigail paled at his words. Her heartbeat raised and she could feel the first tendrils of fear coil around the back of her neck. She took a deep breath to try and control these feelings, but it didn’t work. 

“What do you mean? A bounty? Someone’s promised money to bring us in?” she asked, almost out of breath. This seemed to be even worse than she had feared. Her heart beat frantically against her ribs as she desperately tried to keep herself from running away.

Will nodded. After all that had happened to her in her life, she’d grown up considerably faster than most girls her age. There was no need to lie to her about it. He knew she was scared, he could feel her fear all the way from the opposite side of the room, but he also knew she was strong and she could deal with whatever life decided to throw her way. 

“Mason Verger has promised three million dollar to whoever catches Hannibal and me, alive.” he said, gnashing his teeth and squinting at his two companions, giving in to the anger boiling inside of him. There was nothing right now than to kill Mason Verger, like the pig that he was. Why hadn’t he just killed the man back in his home in Wolf Trap? He had often asked himself that question since it had become clear Verger was hunting them, but his was not the right time to be dwelling on past regrets. He had many regrets in his life, but this one he felt exceptionally keenly. If he’d had the guts to do what was necessary, they wouldn’t have been stuck in a hotel room for now. It was his fault Abigail was in this situation right now and he would do anything to make it right for her.

“It would be wise to stay inside for the next few days. I’ve contacted someone to help us, but she will probably need a little time to make preparations to help us escape. In the meantime we should leave the rooms as little as possible and keep an eye on everyone we meet.” Hannibal told them. He was quite sure Chiyoh’s loyalty stretched to helping the three getting out of Italy, but there was still doubt gnawing at the back of his skull. He wasn’t used to taking care of someone, no matter taking their needs into account. It was a strange sensation and he found himself slowly getting used to it. 

For the next two weeks, a restless feeling came down on the three of them, resulting in some tension between Abigail and the two men, and causing her to shut herself in her own room for the rest of the time. At the beginning of the third week, Hannibal finally received a text from Chiyoh telling him she’d be waiting for him at the coast of Livorno in four days’ time. When he went next door to bring Abigail the good news, she couldn’t contain her joy at the thought of finally leaving the hotel. She whooped with joy when Hannibal told them, leaving both him and Will with tender smiles on their faces. 

Both Will and Hannibal had grown out their beards in the two weeks they had spent inside and while Will had cut his hair, cropping it close to his skull, Hannibal had given up on hair product and let it grow out. Hannibal’s beard was some sort of curiosity for Will, as he couldn’t keep his hands off it. At night he traced the white streaks in it, reveling in how soft it was against his hands and in his neck when Hannibal kissed and sucked him there until they both couldn’t take it anymore. 

That’s why next day Will and Hannibal went out to buy all of the necessities for a long boat trip, while Abigail stayed in, as she hadn’t been able to change her appearance as much as Hannibal deemed necessary. 

Being a seasoned sailor, Will knew what they would need to survive a trip across the mediterranean to Africa and from there to South America while Hannibal was in charge of paperwork and paying for Will’s purchases so they each had a task to focus on. 

Will hadn’t been able to relax for a second since they had left the hotel without Abigail. He wouldn’t forgive himself nor Hannibal if anything happened to her. He realized she was safer in her room than on the street with them, but it didn’t make him feel any better about leaving her behind on her own. She had refused ‘a babysitter’, and she hadn’t budged, much to Will’s dismay. In the end, she’d gotten her way. 

After less than two hours, before they had even finished half of their shopping, Will grasped Hannibal’s arm with a panicked sound.

“We need to return to the hotel, Hannibal. Those two black cars are following us since we left the fishing supply shop. It can’t be a coincidence.”

Hannibal looked discreetly at the two cars following him and quickly deduced it was hopeless to try and outrun them. Three thugs in each car, they had a chance of getting away unscathed but not in this crowded part of town. He realized luring them back to the hotel would be dangerous to Abigail, but he didn’t see any other way. They couldn’t just run and leave her there. He steered Will back in the hotel’s direction, acting as if the two pursuing cars weren’t there.

“Hannibal? What are we doing?”, Will asked, hurrying along the street, passing dozens of tourists while trying not to stand out. “This way we’re only risking Abigail. We need to get them somewhere alone, we can deal with them.” 

Hannibal looked at Will quizzically as they crossed the last street before arriving at the hotel. He knew what Will wanted, but there was no chance they could repeat their experience earlier in Brussels. He shook his head, ignoring the look that passed over Will’s face. Together they hurried through the lobby, not paying attention to the receptionist’s stare, and walked straight upstairs.

The room was empty when they arrived, there was nothing out of place, but Abigail’s absence stood out. Will thought she’d gone out at first, but her coat still lay on the chair she’d put it when she had arrived and her shoes were next to the bathroom. The bed was still rumpled where she’d been reading her novel when they left. Will threw a worried glance Hannibal’s way, but he didn’t make a sound. Everything about Hannibal’s stance screamed absolute alertness, every muscle in his body was coiled and ready to spring when necessary. Will felt tension in the back of his shoulders, but he rolled them once and took his place near the bathroom door. Hannibal kicked in the door, recoiling at the sight in front of him. 

Will knew it was bad when he saw Hannibal’s reaction, but he steeled himself and peeked in the bathroom. Abigail was in the tub with her head bent at an unnatural angle. The expression on her face was calm and serene. Blood splatters were all over the tiles, she had probably still been alive when the killer had started cutting her. One leg hanging over the edge of the tub, her body was slumped, hiding the extensive damage the knife had done to her stomach and her upper legs. Will neared the bath, making sure he didn’t step into the large puddle of blood that had formed under her foot. There was nothing they could do to save her. The stickiness of the blood told him she’d probably been killed shortly after their departure. He took a deep breath and willed down the tears forming in the corners of his eyes. Turning around, he looked at Hannibal who seemed less shocked and enraged than he was, but he knew better. The small twitch under his right eye told him enough, Hannibal’s rage had been woken. What could have been a morbid game of hide and seek all across Europe now had become a deadly hunt, and Will didn’t know if they were the hunters or prey. 

Hannibal wanted to take care of Abigail’s body, she didn’t deserve to stay there, like cattle. He moved closer to the tub and went down on his knees, uncaring of the blood soiling his clothes. His head bent, a small tear made its way down his cheek. He gingerly reached out to touch the small lifeless body of his surrogate daughter. 

“This wasn’t what I wanted for you, Abigail.” he said in a broken whisper, gently stroking her hair. 

When he moved to pick her up, he heard the door open, but it was too late. In a whirlwind of movement he saw Will getting kicked down from behind while he was attacked by three men himself. Will was on the floor, not moving, so he found himself alone against five assailants. Hannibal knew he had no chance against them, but in a last attempt to avoid death or kidnapping, he tried to fight them off. He managed to get a good hit on both ears of the first attacker, sending him staggering backwards. He moved swiftly, grabbing the chance to snatch the scalpel he kept in the cabinet, always ready for use. He lunged for the nearest attacker and immediately sliced through the femoral artery, leaving the man bleeding out on the floor. 

“Mateo!!” one of the others yelled as he saw him go down. He snarled and attacked Hannibal full force. He neared him from behind with a heavy lamp and hit him in the head.

The last thing Hannibal saw before the darkness took over was Will’s limp body right in front of him.


	3. Chapter Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will and Hannibal find out who has kidnapped them. They arrive at their destination.

The truck bearing the Verger family crest slowly made its way through traffic. No one batted an eye as it drove past them smelling less of pigs than usual. Mason Verger was one of the city’s largest employers, so everyone practically left him to his devices. The children who came back from his summer camps got paid off or were never heard of again. He was sort of a legend among the people of the town closest to his farm, but the mayor and chief of police had been in his father’s and grandfather’s pockets ever since the end of WWII, so his family had never been arrested nor exposed to the public. Which meant Mason had always had gotten his way without any opposition. People knew the trucks contained pigs on their way to the slaughterhouse, but what they didn’t know was this was the way Mason usually dispatched of his enemies and families who couldn’t be bought off. As the trucks passed through the city at 11am, no one even thought they could contain anything else but pigs, and those who were suspicious kept their eyes averted and their mouths shut. Life went on as usual.

On the inside of the truck Will groaned as he slowly came to. He tried opening his eyes, but the dizziness he experienced was too much. Gradually becoming aware of the position he was in, hanging upside down, his ankles and hands bound, he realized he was being moved. Nausea spread through him when he started remembering what had happened in the hotel room. Abigail was gone, that much he knew, but Hannibal’s fate was unclear.  
The noise was unbearable, it felt as if he was being transported in a truck, like pigs after they came back from the slaughterhouse. Another bump in the road jolted him into trying to look at his surroundings again. He’d felt the touch of another body against his back, but he couldn’t be sure without taking a look. He gingerly opened his eyes again and took in his surroundings. The inside of what he thought was a truck was mostly dark, daylight spilling through the cracks on the side. The smell was terrible, pigs’ waste, blood mixed with something else he couldn’t quite identify and really didn’t care to. He wriggled around a bit, trying to turn himself so he could take a look at what was bumping into him whenever the truck came to a full stop. His breathing became harsh as he tried to stay conscious but the pull of the endless darkness was too strong. His eyes rolled into the back of his head as his last conscious thought left his body.

Hannibal felt Will’s seemingly lifeless form hit him as he woke up. His first instinct was to close his eyes to make it go away. He remembered most of what had happened in the hotel room, but some parts refused to come back. Mostly he could still see Abigail, her still form covered in blood, lying in the tub to never get up again. He still saw Will passed out on the floor, unable to move or see what was going on while Hannibal continued fighting their assailants, but to no avail. The last thing he remembered was a sharp pain at the back of his head. And now he was here, hanging upside down on the way to god knows where.  
Going by the smell of pigs’ carcasses in the truck, he guessed they were on the way back to Maryland, probably Verger’s farm. He knew they had to make a break for it before arrival, because, knowing Mason, he wasn’t going to take any chances. He tested his bounds, but found them unbreakable from the position he was in. He closed his eyes in surrender and relaxed as best as he could. There was no chance they were going to make it out of here before they reached their destination.

The truck made a final sharp turn, causing Hannibal and Will to crash into each other. Will woke up again, this time with a massive headache and the taste of blood in his mouth. His nose had continued bleeding and it was now clogging up his airway, making him feel even worse. Hanging upside down had disoriented him to a degree he couldn’t even make out the difference between all of the sensations running through him. There was pain, but also numbness in the general vicinity of his wrists and fingers. He suspected that came from being tied so long he couldn’t even remember. The touch of Hannibal’s very much living body soothed his fears a bit, but the acute realization of their predicament put him back on high alert. How were they ever going to make it out alive? He couldn’t bear to spare a thought for Abigail, his only concern was to survive Mason Verger and hopefully kill the bastard before he could hurt them even more. He gritted his teeth as another bump in the road made him crash into Hannibal again.  
“Will?”

He could hear Hannibal’s croaking voice coming from behind his back. He tried turning his body so he could face the other man and check him for damage, but he couldn’t find leverage.

“Hannibal? Are you alright?” he asked, his voice just as hoarse as Hannibal’s had been earlier. 

Hannibal nodded, not realizing Will couldn’t see him from where he was hanging. His head hurt from being suspended upside down for such a long time, but his mind felt remarkably clear after the ordeal he had gone through. 

“I am okay, Will. We need to find a way out of here. I hadn’t meant for us to be the prey for our first actual hunt together.” he said, sounding a bit disappointed.

Will gritted his teeth. He felt his blood pressure rise as he remembered Mason sitting in his home, feeding his face to his dogs. This time around, he would kill him. Not as slowly as Hannibal usually preferred, harvesting organs as they were still alive, but quickly and without making a mess, to avoid his men or the bent cops to come to his aid. He knew he would make a tableau out of him, one that would honour Abigail and utterly humiliate Verger, and he didn’t give a damn if he was caught by the FBI or not. This was it, this was his becoming. 

“Damn right we have to get out of here. I am going to kill that miserable piece of shit when I get half a chance.” he hissed. 

Hannibal smiled internally as he took in the wrath emanating from his lover. Their situation was precarious, but it had potential to be amusing as well. He knew they would get their pound of flesh for the murder of Abigail, literally, even though he had no idea how to get around to it. 

“We will get him for this.” he heard Will say before he passed out again. 

The next time Will opened his eyes, the truck had stopped and the doors were being opened from the outside. Light came pouring in, blinding both him and Hannibal. He shut his eyes firmly, but squinted as he heard the grating voice that would follow him into the grave.

“Good afternoon, gentlemen. Welcome to Muskrat farm.” Mason Verger said.

Mason looked nothing less than grotesque. There was nothing left of the man who had once destroyed Hannibal’s chair. The only thing betraying the creature in the wheelchair’s identity were his eyes, malevolent beads hiding behind glasses. His face was maimed beyond recognition, where used to be his cheeks was nothing left but scar tissue and his nose was nowhere to be found. The man looked even more triumphant than when he had succeeded in taking away Margot’s baby after a being manipulated into doing so by Hannibal. Sitting straight up in his wheelchair, flanked by both Cordell and two bodyguards, Mason grinned as he accepted custody of his two trussed up and bound victims.

Will’s eyes spat fire as Mason came closer to the both of them. His breathing sped up as he was forced to endure the pig farmer touch his sides. Those hands that had fed his dogs and killed Abigail by proxy made him feel squeamish. The thought of them touching him made him retch, but he fought against it, trying to keep his raging emotions off his face. He could feel Mason’s breath warm against his skin as he ran his hands over Will’s body. He felt the man pull down his shirt a little before his breath was taken away by a sharp stabbing pain in his back. Gritting his teeth against the sharp sensation as to not show Mason he was hurting him, he just grunted as he was stabbed once, with more force than strictly necessary. 

“Like I’ve shown Dr Lecter before,” Verger continued, while giving Hannibal the same treatment, “this is how my daddy taught me to check if a pig is ready for slaughter, it it’s gotten fat enough.” He checked the knife and nodded, “A bit lean to my tastes, but it’ll have to do.”  
He nodded to his bodyguards and motioned for them to take Will and Hannibal out of the truck and into the house.

“Oh, and I’d suggest you say your goodbyes now. I can’t imagine you’ll be seeing much more of each other.” he said as a parting shot while both men were knocked out cold again.


	4. Chapter Four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mason finally has Hannibal and Will where he wants them. He can’t help but gloat for a bit.

Hannibal woke up tied to some sort of wheelchair. His arms and legs were bound, as was his torso, he couldn’t move anything but his neck and head, but not enough do any damage, unless one of Mason’s men would be so stupid to come close enough for him to bite. He knew that was why they had kept him sedated when dressing and shaving him. His beard was gone, and his hair had been cut the way it had been when he’d treated Mason and his sister, Margot. He checked out the attire Mason’s men had put him in and shook his head. He was wearing a light colored shirt and a striped brown jacket and waistcoat, but none of it fit, as if the person who had dressed him had wanted to make fun of his preferred style. His eyes were burning and his head hurt like it hadn’t since he was a kid, but his mind no longer seemed foggy. He was strangely well rested and alert. When he looked around he saw he was in a dining room. The furniture seemed old, but well taken care of. From where he was sitting, he could only see the antique chair at the head of the table. His restricted movement prevented him from looking around the place to check if there were any exits or other opportunities to risk an escape. There didn’t seem to be any on the side of the room he was able to see. The only doorway was guarded by two of Mason’s goons while he could hear others patrolling the hallway. The windows were darkened with foil which made it impossible for Hannibal to tell if it was night or day. He suspected there were several locks on them as well. The place in front of him was still empty, and no chair had been provided. Was Mason going to bring Will in as well? At this moment, there was nothing he wanted more than to take down Mason down the way he had once imagined killing Jack, with Will, sealing their union as if it were a passage rite. 

Will’s eyes were closed as he felt himself being strapped into a wheelchair. He wanted desperately to take a look at his surroundings, but the paralytic they’d given him was too strong. He was aware of what Mason’s servants did to him. The first thing he had noticed was being hosed off and cleaned of the blood that had stuck to him since he was kidnapped back in Florence. Then the same hands had dried him roughly and put some clothes on him. The manhandling made him feel sick to the core. He hated their hands on him, touching him where they had no business. He wanted to grab and bite the two men that were busy cleaning him up for whatever it was Mason had planned to do to him. What he despised most of all was that he actually enjoyed the feeling of being clean when they finished washing and dressing him. As soon as he was strapped in, one of the men injected him with a concoction that woke him up and brought back his capacity to think before he was wheeled out and brought into the dining room where Hannibal was waiting already. 

Hannibal’s eyes met Will’s as he was put in place at the opposite side of the table. He checked to see if he was drugged, pleased to see Will smile at him, revealing his sharp teeth. Aching to touch Will, who looked both happy and angry, ready to kill at a moment’s notice, he balled his fists and let out a deep breath. Will’s eyes were clear and full of hate for their captors, Hannibal reveled in the darkness they displayed. He let out a gasp at the beautiful sight of his lover seething with anger. There was nothing he wanted more now than to grab him and ravish him on the dining table. His own eyes betrayed this desire to Will, whose expression softened for a split second. He broke eye contact when he heard a sound coming from the hallway, Mason was on his way, probably accompanied by Cordell. The urge to kill Mason had never been as strong as it was now. This man was not just rude, but he had insulted Hannibal and the few people he had learned to care about as an adult. Hunting him and Will had been an acceptable part of the game Hannibal had even enjoyed playing, even if it was against an unworthy opponent like Mason, but still he’d relished the thrill of the chase. Killing Abigail on the other hand had been unacceptable. She had never been a part of their game since Will had chosen to join them on their trip to Europe. He had wanted for her to take part in his and Will’s hunts, but not yet, she hadn’t been ready to accept that side of herself when she was killed. This man had to die, he had to pay for what he had done. Unfortunately, there was not much he could do for now. He hoped Margot would be on the property, he was fairly certain he could persuade her to let him and Will go, and kill Mason in the process. He knew she hadn’t been far from killing him herself when he’d taken away her baby, but she hadn’t found the courage up until now. 

Mason entered the room in his fancy wheelchair, looking triumphantly at his two prisoners at the table, bound and not in a position to challenge him because of the drugs still running through their systems. He took his place at the head of the table, making sure he could see both men at all times. A creepy smile formed on the wreck that was left of his face. The surgeons had done their best, but the damage he had wrought on himself under the influence of Hannibal’s drugs had been too extensive to repair. 

“Good evening, gentlemen,” he started, adjusting his seat to be able to look at both of them at the same time, “I trust your accommodations are to your liking. But do not fear, you won’t be spending much time there. I have big plans for the both of you.” He grinned, for as far as he still could, looking Hannibal square in the eyes before continuing his monologue. 

“Oh, I know it was you who set the whole chain of events in motion. It was you who planted the seed of having a Verger baby into Margot’s head, and I know you manipulated me into killing it after. Only, I didn’t realize your goal was to get to Mr Graham here. Not just for your own amusement, but mine as well, I must say. It’s not that I regret my actions, we couldn’t have Margot obtaining a baby and then deciding she doesn’t need me to provide for her anymore. Next thing I know I could have been in a ‘car accident’.” He made the gesture with distaste on his features, as if he had only then realized how dangerous she could be to him if she had succeeded in having a Verger heir.   
“I know she hates me and wants me dead more than anything, but now she can’t, not unless she’s prepared to give up the Verger fortune.” he said, not bothering to mask the immense satisfaction he felt at keeping his sister under his thumb.

Mason’s eyes gave Will and Hannibal the once over, flashing maliciously. His plans for them were well prepared. He took his wine glass, gesturing for Cordell to fill it up, and his guests’ glasses as well, while the servers brought out the dishes they were to eat this evening. As the crew left the dining room after making sure everything was prepared to their employer’s demands, Mason touched the rim of his glass with his fork.

“Gentlemen, I am happy to be able to welcome you for dinner tonight. We will be having three courses consisting of an ingredient you are very familiar with, Dr Lecter. We’ll be having... long pig.” Mason’s voice hitched on the last word, as if the thought of eating people was distasteful to him, but he grasped himself soon enough.   
“I do hope you will enjoy your meal, as it will be the last one you will share with each other. That’s right, my men have reported on the changed status in your relationship, and I have adjusted my plans accordingly. I had planned on taking your face, Mr Graham, as payment for losing mine to your dogs, but this course of action does no longer please me. I have decided to use Dr Lecter’s body to replace the parts I have lost during our unfortunate encounter in Wolf Trap.” He paused, looking Hannibal over and humming to himself.  
“Your face will serve me well I think.” 

Mason had looked in Hannibal’s direction during his speech, only getting distracted when he’d addressed Will for a short time. His hatred for the psychiatrist was clear, he wanted to destroy him, both for disrespecting him as the head of the Verger family and for manipulating him into terminating Margot’s ability to procreate before he had meant to. He had intended for her to feel safe before sealing her fate, and now he’d been forced to rush it. 

Even now that he had both of them here in captivity, he still couldn’t decide who he wanted to suffer more, Graham or Lecter. Graham had had the audacity to touch his baby sister where he hadn’t been allowed to, so the man had to die. No one could get their grubby paws on Mason’s things and expect to get away with it. Learning he had been able to escape his men as well as the FBI with Lecter the cannibal had only sealed his fate in Mason’s eyes. And how he would die… Mason couldn’t suppress the satisfaction in his voice as he continued his monologue.

“Mr Graham will be provided with adequate quarters down in the stables.” He moved a little closer to Will, leaning over as he whispered in his ear, but loud enough for Hannibal to hear him. “When I gave you the chance to admire my pigs from close range, you felt you were too good for them. I suggest you live with them for a while before you will suffer the same fate they all do.”   
His eyes took on a manic quality, glittering maliciously as he watched Will pale as he heard of the fate Mason had in store for him. 

“Yes, Mr Graham, I fully intend to eat you, starting with your feet and working my way up. Of course you will be left alive and conscious during the whole process. My surgeon, Cordell over here, will make sure you will be kept aware of his actions. He will show you every body part he removes so you can properly say goodbye to it. I am, however, nothing but a good host, so I will allow you to partake of your own flesh. You do realize that was what your husband did to that poor Dr Gideon, who already was incarcerated and suspected of the murders Dr Lecter had committed himself?” 

Will felt his face heat up the longer Mason kept talking. He heard the words but he no longer could process them. The man was actually planning on keeping him like one of his pigs, and then eating him too? He could no longer contain his anger at the humiliation he was forced to submit to. He clenched his teeth when he felt Cordell touching his sides and counting his ribs, but he didn’t budge. Tapping into the serial killers he had accumulated in his head over the years, he found a strange peace as he imagined taking a bite out of Cordell’s round cheek and eating it in front of him. Taking a deep breath, he willed his heart rate down as he followed the doctor’s movements as he walked around the table, stopping at Hannibal’s side. He saw Cordell bending over and touching Hannibal’s face in a clinical fashion. 

“His skin is too dry, Mr Verger, I’ll need to apply some cream before I can safely transplant it.” Cordell said with an apologetic look to Mason. He turned to the two men standing next to Hannibal’s chair and motioned for them to leave him to his work. Taking a tube of skin cream, he squirted a bit in his hand and went to apply it to Hannibal’s skin.

No one had noticed the restraints that kept Hannibal’s head largely immobile had loosened during Mason’s talk, and Hannibal was not going to mention it. He’d tried to find a way out, but he would need more than just his head free. Seemingly surrendered to his fate, he leaned back in his chair, letting Cordell come closer and touch him, making him believe it was safe to put his hands on the declawed predator he seemed to be. The doctor had just put his hands on Hannibal’s face again when the Chesapeake Ripper struck. He turned his head and bit Cordell on the fleshiest part of his face, his cheek. His teeth sank in the soft skin, breaking it at first contact. With a powerful move of his head, Hannibal tore a chunk of skin from the screaming man and swallowed it whole, leaving Cordell bleeding in front of him. His eyes found Will’s as soon as he released his grip on the other man, and he couldn’t have been happier with the look in them. Will looked proud, his ocean blue eyes shone with a ferocity Hannibal hadn’t often seen in his lover. The killer he’d cultivated during their time together had finally made his presence known, not to be hidden from view again. He smiled at Will, showing his blood covered sharp teeth, but he didn’t get the chance to speak as he was immediately injected with a sedative that knocked him out before he realized what was happening.

Will wanted to scream when he saw Hannibal being injected and carted off to the unknown. He immediately channeled his despair into anger as he shifted his look to Mason Verger. The impulse to kill him now was impossible to resist, but the strong bindings around his wrists made sure he couldn’t give in to it. 

“So, Mr Graham, now we finally know what makes Dr Lecter lose his cool… and it’s you. You and that pretty girl we killed back in Italy. Too bad she forced us to kill her, I could have had a lot of fun with that one, she was feisty.” Mason said smugly. 

Will bucked against his restraints in an attempt to get closer to Verger, but he couldn’t move. Breathing harshly, he gave up, letting tears of anger stream down his face. There was no way out of here, he wasn’t going to avenge Abigail as he had dreamed about since they were loaded onto that truck. His muscles relaxed as he gave in to the total apathy that consumed him from within. He was done fighting, it was his time to go. As he let go of consciousness, he saw Mason and Cordell leave the room, telling the bodyguards to take him down.


	5. Chapter Five

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter mentions some of the crimes Mason has committed. As you know he’s a child abuser, so there are mentions of child abuse in this chapter, but nothing graphic.

Margot had witnessed the whole ‘dinner’ from a side entrance she was sure Mason didn’t even know about. She had discovered a network of tunnels under the older part of the farm when she was preparing to run away and have her baby in peace. She’d even considered staying in them until Mason had called off the search for her, but she knew she didn’t stand a chance if she tried, not to mention that it would put her baby in grave danger. Her plans had failed anyway, and they had left her without the possibility of ever getting pregnant again. Her stomach turned as she heard Mason lay out his plans for the two men in captivity. Lecter may have been the one to convince Mason to kill her baby, she knew that ultimately Mason was the one they should dispose of and not the other way around. She realized she would never be able to kill her brother herself, so there was no other option than to help Will and Hannibal escape and have them dispose of Mason for her. Done with all of the childish games, she made her way upstairs, to Mason’s private room, where he had kept previous victims if he had wanted to enjoy them for a while. This time she was really done with him and his whims. He had to die, and there was no better place for it to happen than in his own sanctuary.

The room Hannibal came to in reminded him of some torture chambers he had seen in his life, designed both for sensual role play and more advanced interrogation.This one, however, was not designed for sensual torture and role play, it looked more like the real thing. There were no objects designed for pleasure, only pain. He swallowed as he saw the medieval looking rack in the corner of the room, but the state of it told him it hadn’t been used in a long time. He leaned back and tried to move his hands and legs again, but the bindings wouldn’t let him. He was trapped. His skin crawled at the sight of the other torture devices that looked well maintained and used regularly. He had known Mason was a sadist, but he hadn’t realized his tastes ran to the medieval side of torture. Hannibal had always seen him as a small boy who got off on terrorizing the other kids in the playground, but who never had the guts to take it further than threats. It appeared he had been gravely mistaken in not taking Margot’s accusations at face value. He was no stranger to pain, and he could take some, but even he didn’t know how he would react to being confronted with such raw agony as he knew those devices would undoubtedly cause him. 

Mason was nowhere to be seen when Margot made her way upstairs. She supposed he was down in the stables, seeing to Will getting the pigs’ treatment. She felt bad for him, he would probably be branded and hit with those terrible cattle prods Cordell’s men liked to use on the poor animals, but right now she couldn’t do anything for him. Dr Lecter was alone in Mason’s room, she needed to take advantage of it. Silently, she walked towards the closed door in the hallway she’d always tried to avoid. Her heartbeat thundered through her entire body, making her want to turn away and hide in her own room until all would be over. Knowing it would never be over if she didn’t go through with this, she swallowed and gently pushed against the door. It opened immediately, revealing Hannibal Lecter sitting in that wheelchair, pale and covered in blood from his actions at the dinner table. If she was honest with herself, she admired him for having the courage to attack Cordell when he was in such a weak position. If it had been anyone but her sadistic brother, he probably would have been killed on the spot, but since Mason wanted to make him suffer even more, he’d unwittingly given her the chance to try and help the man escape. 

“Dr Lecter,” she whispered, on high alert for any other sounds that may come from the corridor or further inside the room. When she couldn’t hear any, she swiftly moved inside and closed the door. 

Hannibal looked up as he heard Margot’s voice from right outside the door. He was surprised to find her in here, but grateful all the same, if her intention was to save him, which remained to be seen.

“Margot. So you’ve decided to take the chocolate after all.” he said with a benign smile on his face, but seething with anger on the inside. “Have you come here to gloat? To make sure that the one who orchestrated your… miscarriage gets done away with properly?” His voice sounded strained, even to his own ears. He detested that show of weakness in front of a potential enemy, but his spirit had taken a blow after waking up in this room, with Will nowhere in sight. For the first time since that fateful night in Baltimore, he had felt a kind of despair colouring his world view. Life had been good on the run, he had known Will’s love and he had experienced having a daughter who respected and admired him. It was hard to go back to what he had known before, or to accept the possibility of death like he always had. He had always enjoyed life to the fullest, knowing it could end at all times, and he had made peace with that fact early on in his career as a serial killer. Looking at Margot and the possibility of an escape, he found he wanted nothing more than to get away from here and take revenge on Mason. 

“Dr Lecter,” Margot started, bending over a little to take a look at the restraints covering his wrists. “I don’t have much time. Mason is downstairs, probably branding Will.” She took a deep breath and cursed softly as she rattled his cuffs and felt him flinch. “I can’t free you. The keys are with Mason, he always keeps the keys to his toys in his pocket. I imagine you’ve already guessed what he uses this room for?”

Hannibal nodded, trying if he had some leeway to escape his shackles, but not finding any. The cuffs were designed so he wouldn’t be able to get out of them, even if he broke his thumb in the process. He looked at Margot to assess her intentions. 

“If you can get either of us loose, we can fix your problem for you. It would be therapeutic for you to kill him yourself, and now you have two perfect scapegoats at your disposal. If the time comes, I will personally boast about having killed him and how I enjoyed disposing of him after. My secret has been out ever since the FBI raided my place, so no one will even question my confession.”

Margot looked at the doctor who had both helped her gain the strength to start planning and executing her brother’s demise. Part of her wanted to see him punished for what he had caused her, but her hatred for her brother was stronger. She was going to make the two of them get out of here, and then she could ask them to help her dispose of Mason’s corpse. Fingering the knife in her pocket, she made her final decision. With a dark look in her eyes, she slid both the knife and a shard of glass in Hannibal’s back pocket. He lifted his hips to make hiding them easier for her.   
“There are weapons in the cupboard under the stairs. I’m sure you will find something to your liking. I will come back as soon as I have found a way to release you.” Margot said, taking a step back and feeling the doorknob behind her. She turned around on her heels and exited the room, feeling stronger and less pessimistic than when she’d come in. 

Will was tied up naked in the middle of the pig pen, his hands tied together and suspended above his head. His breathing quickened as he realized what was going to happen and how much it was going to hurt. He tried to force himself to relax and let the pain wash over him, but he could barely suppress a scream as Cordell pushed the branding iron between his shoulder blades. The pain was impossible to describe. As the iron withdrew, he tried to catch his breath, but the throbbing was even worse than the initial burn. He ground his teeth, trying to suppress any more sounds that threatened to make their way out. There was no way he was giving Cordell the satisfaction of hearing him cry out in pain. He let out a harsh laugh, stopping the other man in his tracks.

“Didn’t Hannibal tell you you shouldn’t torture your food before you kill it? It influences the taste.” Will rasped, trying to get enough air in his lungs to take his next breath. 

He was rewarded for his insolence with a smack to the back of his head, but Cordell remained silent, instead choosing to let Mason speak for himself.

“Don’t you worry about your taste, Mr Graham, Cordell will prepare you to the best of his abilities. Apparently he still has a lot to learn compared to Dr Lecter, but he will no longer be a concern of ours.” Mason cackled from the back of the stables. 

He enjoyed watching the other man getting tortured. Ever since he was a kid, he had enjoyed torturing and watching others get hurt on his behest. In high school he paid bullies to go to town on their victims, and his dad had always paid the families to make it go away. The kids then were told to say they’d been in an accident at home as the scars became too large to remain unnoticed. Things hadn’t changed, but now he had learned to do away with his victims instead of paying them off. This way he got the pleasure of hearing them take their last breath in agony. He never took more than one or two a year home to kill them and never one who would be missed. The kids, that was different. Sometimes they just got too damaged to risk their return to their families. But he had always paid them off handsomely so he could go about his business. 

Will looked at the parody of a man in front of him, sitting in his wheelchair, looking as if he was the cat that got the canary. His back didn’t hurt for now, but he knew it was because of the nerve endings that had been damaged irreparably. He was in for a lot of pain in the next few hours, unless he could make his way out of here. His eyes trailed Cordell’s movements as he came closer, but the sting of being injected hit him as soon as the man came close. The drug made its way through his system quickly, but it was only a paralytic, not a sedative. The pain of the new brand seared through his back and his shoulders screamed as his legs gave out. 

Margot made her way down when she heard Mason’s party enter the house a few hours later. She didn’t want to imagine what he had put Will through, but as long as he was still alive, she could try and save him. She pushed open the heavy door and looked inside. Her breath hitched as she saw Will in the pig pen, pushed to his knees and his hands tied behind his back. When she came closer and saw the angry red mark on his back, she kicked herself mentally. She was too late to save Will from this. 

“Will! Wake up!”, she whispered, gently touching his shoulder. 

Will heard Margot’s voice, but he couldn’t react because of the drugs they had injected him with. He let out a soft moan as he felt her touch his shoulder. 

“Hannibal? That you?” he managed to slur before his head lolled back forwards. His spirit seemed to be broken, but Margot knew he had to be drugged. This was not the Will Graham she’d gotten to know during their brief but intense acquaintance. Will was feisty and ready to fight, this man had all but given up. His eyes were dead, and not just because of the drugs.

“No, it’s Margot. Mason’s keeping Hannibal upstairs. He is alive, but he won’t be for long if we don’t get him out.”

Upon hearing Hannibal was still alive Will’s eyes seemed to light up. His teeth bared, he rattled his ropes, trying in vain to pull himself free, but Margot rested her hand on his shoulder and shook her head. She grabbed a knife from her pocket and almost cut through the rope holding Will. Then she placed the knife in his other hand.

“You can pull yourself free as soon as the drugs wear off. Please, get out of here, and take Hannibal. I couldn’t free him but I armed him. Just… do me one favour and kill Mason. Don’t let him ever hurt anyone again. I’m not strong enough, no matter what Hannibal thinks.” She sounded close to desperate as she all but begged him to kill her brother. Will couldn’t do anything but nod. His eyes darkened as he forced himself to face the pain and get out of the haze the drugs had caused.


	6. Chapter Six

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapters six and seven cover the same time period from both Will and Hannibal’s POV. Enjoy <3

Cordell knew something was wrong when their party arrived upstairs. He placed himself in front of Mason and scoured the hallway leading to Mason’s torture chamber. Nothing seemed to be amiss, but he wouldn’t have made it this far in Mason’s service if his instincts weren’t finely honed. He put Mason out of harm’s way in his own room, signalling the other man to remain silent and went back to the door. There didn’t seem to be anything suspicious going on, but Cordell could feel something was off. He was on high alert as he pulled his gun before kicking open the door to the room where they’d left Hannibal earlier. The man was still there, seemingly unconscious, but Cordell knew he couldn’t trust his eyes and got closer. Nearing Hannibal from behind as to avoid getting bitten again, he placed his finger on his neck to check his pulse. There was no heartbeat to find, there was not a single sign of life. The doctor seemed to have died while they were out taking care of Will Graham. This wasn’t supposed to happen, Mason would surely punish him if something happened to Lecter before he had gotten his revenge. Cordell moved quickly, grabbed the stethoscope from the desk and placed it on Hannibal’s partially bared chest. The absence of a heartbeat hit Cordell harder than any other surprise he had been expecting. He wasn’t really surprised, after he had been unable to locate a pulse. He felt his heart sink and slapped Hannibal square in the face. His hair flopped over his eyes, but the man didn’t move. 

“Oh no, you fucking bastard. You don’t get to die before we say so,” he said under his breath. With a quick movement he opened the cupboard where he kept the medical equipment he used to monitor Mason’s victims when he had wanted to keep them alive for a little longer, to inflict just a little more pain on them. He didn’t doubt this would be Lecter’s fate until he was ready to harvest his face and have it transplanted onto what remained of his own. He grabbed everything he needed and returned to Hannibal’s side. He pulled open his shirt and attached the wires of the monitor, but no regular heartbeat registered. Grumbling to himself he loosened the shackles that kept Hannibal’s wrists bound so he could move him around freely when saving his life. This was his last mistake.

Hannibal pounced as soon as he felt the pressure on his wrist lessen. His right hand shot up, burying his fingers in Cordell’s eye socket. He held on and ignored his victim’s shouts, knocking his head three times against the metal cuff on his other wrist. Knowing he wouldn’t get betrayed by the sound, as the room had been designed to be as sound proof as possible, he knew he could take his time as soon as he got the cuffs and chains off his other hand and legs. After about a minute, Cordell fainted due to the excruciating pain of having his eye gouged out and his head bashed in. The silence was deafening, and Hannibal knew he had to get to work. Reaching behind him, he took the knife and the shard of glass Margot had been so nice to leave with him. His right hand covered in blood and other fluids, freeing himself didn’t go easy, but he managed to undo the cuff with the knife. It became easier to move once his hands were free. Releasing his legs would be a piece of cake if he succeeded in loosening the bolts that held the chains stuck to the floor. Grateful he still had the use of his hands and fingers, he managed to free himself in a short time. Rolling his ankles, he realized they hadn’t done anything to impair his ability to walk and thus run away. 

There was a fearsome expression on Hannibal’s face when he stood towering over Cordell’s prone form. This was the man who had assisted Mason in all of his efforts to hunt him and Will, leading up to Abigail’s unfortunate murder. He deserved a most painful and memorable death at the hands of the Chesapeake Ripper. In an effortless move, Hannibal grabbed the unconscious form and tied him to the rack that had captured his attention only a short while earlier. He pulled the ropes as taut as possible, maximizing the pain but not yet causing irreparable damage to Cordell’s body. He wanted the other man to be awake for this. He needed him to feel everything he had unleashed on Abigail and probably Will. Making sure Cordell wouldn’t go anywhere, Hannibal left the room in search for the weapons closet Margot had told him about. 

The corridor was quiet as he made his way to find weapons. He grabbed a serrated knife, two scalpels and an axe. He pocketed two of the handguns in case he needed to arm Will after he got free too. He went back to check on Cordell, and after securing his wrists and firmly closing the door, he made his way to the main room, where at least four of Mason’s thugs sat around, waiting for orders. 

“Good evening, gentlemen.” Hannibal said, moving behind two of them. He didn’t give them the chance to speak before he slashed one’s throat and hit the other one on the back of the head with the axe. The two others grabbed for their guns, but they were no match for the unleashed predator. Hannibal lifted the axe and hacked into his attacker’s face, relishing the blood spray on his hands and face. The last survivor stood shaking before Hannibal, gun drawn, but obviously too shaken up to act in time. He was a young boy, hardly ready for a job like his, but Hannibal didn’t feel anything remotely resembling pity as he brought down the axe on the hand holding the gun. It didn’t come clean off, but the wound was horrendous. The boy fell in a puddle of blood, begging for his life. Teeth bared in a frightening grimace, Hannibal ended his life with a single smash of the axe to his head. 

As his final victim sank lifeless to the floor, Hannibal looked up at a sound coming from the hallway. He grabbed the axe with both hands and moved in the general direction of the sound. 

As he gently pushed open the door to the hallway, his breath hitched at the sight he was treated too. There was Will, clad in nothing but pants and covered in blood. He had a knife in his left hand and a clawhammer in his right. The thud of the body at his feet made Will look up and meet Hannibal’s eyes.

“Hannibal…” The cracked voice sounded as beautiful as the most exquisite piece of music to Hannibal’s ears. He felt overwhelmed by relief and happiness as he saw Will come closer, hammer and knife still in his hands. 

“Hello Will,” he said softly as he lifted his hand to stroke Will’s cheek. He chuckled as Will leaned into the touch like a cat.


	7. Chapter Seven

Will cried out as he pulled his arm free, severing the half cut rope in a swift movement. He clenched his teeth to avoid any more sounds escaping his lips and started cutting through the rope that suspended his other arm. His back burned from being forced into an unnatural position for several hours and his shoulders sent the most agonizing jolts through the rest of his body. The brand in the middle of his back caused him both mental and physical pain. He could still feel it throbbing in time with his heartbeat while the edges burned as if they were still on fire. He needed medical attention as soon as possible, but he had to get away from here first. 

He pulled on his pants Mason’s thugs had left carelessly on the floor. He didn’t bother with the shirt, it would probably only worsen the pain the mark was causing. Grabbing the small knife with one hand, he slowly walked towards the door, alert for any noises that might indicate the return of Mason or one of his men. In the corner closest to the door, he saw a clawhammer, covered in blood. Taking that too, he walked outside and looked around the place. The main house wasn’t far, but he knew he wasn’t alone, Mason’s goons were everywhere. 

He ran towards the house, keeping an eye out for possible followers, when he heard a sound behind him. Three men came at him, at an alarming speed. He stood still, looked them over and took a fighting stance. He wasn’t FBI anymore, but his training as a police officer had never left him. He held the clawhammer in his right hand and put the knife in the back of his pants, ready to withstand the attack he knew was coming. He forced his shoulders to relax so he could swing the hammer with more accuracy. 

Two men immediately assaulted him with knives. Will lifted the hammer and bashed the first attacker’s head in. The man fell lifelessly to the ground with a grunting noise. Will didn’t get time to catch his breath as he was hit on the side of the head with the hilt of a knife. He almost screamed in pain, but turned around and kicked the man right under the knee, hard enough to send him howling to the floor. He positioned himself behind the man and broke his neck in a fast movement, like he’d seen Hannibal do to Mason back in Wolf Trap. 

The third one had stayed behind, studying Will’s moves as he easily took out the others. He seemed to be torn between wanting to run away to warn his boss and to try and take out Will himself. Will made the choice for him as he charged, knife drawn and with a feral look in his eyes. The man found himself wanting to run away from the killer in front of him, but he was rooted to the spot. The last thing he saw were Will’s blue eyes, burning with hatred and revenge. A single blow of the knife severed his neck artery, causing Will to get drenched in blood.

He wiped his knife on the fallen man’s shirt and continued his way to the main house. He didn’t get bothered again until he reached the porch. Two men were loitering around. One smoked a cigarette while the other stood in the open doorway. They were both dressed in flannel shirts and jeans, not the same fancy suits the other guys had worn. These two seemed to be less prepared for combat, but the fight with the flannel-clad thug in Brussels had taught Will not to underestimate his opponents. 

He snuck closer, the hammer firmly in his right hand and the knife in the back of his pants. It was easy to kill with the hammer, he had noticed, and it caused more fear in his opponents. A smash against their temples usually sufficed to render them at least unconscious or kill them, if he aimed the blow just right. He didn’t particularly want these men to suffer like he wanted Mason and Cordell to suffer and then die in agony. A sound from behind him attracted both men’s attention, causing Will to dive behind the large vehicle blocking the driveway. One of them made his way to Will’s hiding place, but he hadn’t realized the threat was closer than he thought. A muffled cry escaped his mouth as Will pulled him behind the car and hit him on the back of his head. He broke the man’s neck to make sure he wouldn’t follow him and turned his attention back to the other man, who came running to his partner’s aid. He was prepared to kill him too, but he would prefer not to. 

“Sam?”, the dark-haired man called out, carefully getting near the place where Will had left Sam’s body. His trench coat trailing behind him, he made his way to the front of the car, where Will was waiting for him.

Shivering with cold and anticipation, Will held the knife tight and ready to launch his attack. When the man passed him, he snuck behind him and grabbed his head, sticking the knife in his throat. His vocal cords severed, he couldn’t even make a sound to alert someone else. He died with a panicked and pained look on his face, but Will held him until all the tension was gone. Will guided his body to the ground, next to his partner’s, and made his way into the house. 

There was one man in the hallway, who seemed to be on his way to check out the noise coming from the main living room. Will moved fast as soon as the guard noticed him, but not fast enough. He took a blow against the head with the butt of the gun and felt the world spin. He lashed out with the knife and caught the man in the upper thigh. He cut through his pants, leaving a three inch long gash, causing the man to fall to his knees and scream in pain. He then took the hammer and finished the job. Blood splattered all around them, and Will only got drenched more. He let out a sigh, enjoying the killing even more than he thought he would. There was a certain peace to be found in ending the lives of people who didn’t deserve to live. 

As the body fell to the ground, he heard the door to the main living room open. He looked up from what he was doing and found himself transfixed by the sight of Hannibal watching him kill.

“Hannibal…” he stammered before making his way to him. He didn’t let go of the knife or the hammer, realizing danger was still all around them, but he needed to be near Hannibal and see for himself that this was real. He closed his eyes as he took in Hannibal’s scent and felt his hand caressing his face.

“Hello Will.” he said with a soft smile on his face.


End file.
